Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia - UTHM Official Website - History ... http://www.uthm.edu.my/v2/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view...

History of Tun Hussein Bin Dato' Onn

Tun Hussein bin Dato’ Onn

(1922 – 1990)

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) takes its name from a Malaysian statesman who was also the third
Prime Minister of Malaysia, leading the country from 1976 to 1981. He was the eldest son of Dato’ Onn bin Jaafar
and Datin Halimah binti Hussein and was born in Johor Bahru, Johor on February 12, 1922. Tun Hussein received
his early education in Singapore and later at the English College (Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar) in Johor Bahru. After
leaving school, he joined the Johor Military Forces (Angkatan Tentera Timbalan Setia Negeri Johor) as a cadet in
1940 and was sent a year later to the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, India, a famous military academy in
the British empire at that time .

Upon completion of his training and was commissioned in 1942, he started his military career and was absorbed
into the Indian Army (Regimen Hyderabad) in India. He had served in the Middle East including Egypt, Syria,
Palestine and Iraq and was promoted to the rank of Captain. With deep spirit of heroism, he was also responsible
to set Malaya free from Japan colonisation with the help of the Indian and British Armies. After the Second World
War, his vast experience prompted the British to employ him as an instructor at the Malayan Police Recruiting and
Training Centre in Rawalpindi, India.

In 1945, Tun Hussein returned to Malaya and was appointed commandant of the Johor Bahru Police Depot. The
following year, his military excellence continued when he joined the Malay Administrative Service and was
appointed Assistant District Officer in Segamat, Johor. He was later posted to the state of Selangor, to serve as
the District Officer of Klang and Kuala Selangor. However, he resigned from the civil service to go into politics. He
was appointed as the first Youth Chief of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in 1949 and a year
later, he was elected the UMNO Secretary-General. In addition, he also served as a member of the Federal
Legislative Council and the State of Johor Legislative Council. However, when his father left UMNO in 1951
forming the Independent Malaya Party (IMP), he also took the same move and joined him. With IMP losing
momentum, he went to pursue his law studies at Lincoln’s Inn, London, qualifying as a Barrister-at-Law and when
he came back, he served as a certified lawyer and practiced at Skrine Firm and Company in Kuala Lumpur.

Tun Hussein returned to politics with success after success when he rejoined UMNO. He stood, contested and won
the Parliamentary constituency of Johor Bahru Timur in the general elections in 1969. On September 22, 1970 he
was appointed as the Education Minister. He was full of new ideas and among them was, making it compulsory for
students to pass Bahasa Malaysia in the public examinations in order to create the identity of the nation and to
build unity among the communities. He also introduced the quota system for the entrance to public universities
and initiated the foundation of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. His meteoric rise continued when he succeeded the
late Tun Dr. Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister on August 13, 1973 and later he was appointed as Prime Minister
of Malaysia on January 15, 1976.

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Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia - UTHM Official Website - History ... http://www.uthm.edu.my/v2/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view...

Tun Hussein had continued Tun Abdul Razak’s leadership policies which were the core to national development. In
addition, he consolidated the previous policies by launching the National Unit Trust Scheme (ASN) in 1981 in order
to increase the equity of the bumiputra community so that they could enjoy a fair share of the country’s economic
wealth, consistent with the New Economic Plan (DEB). He also gave serious considerations to the concept of
Rukun Tetangga (a neighbourhood watch scheme) and the launching of the Board of National Unity, Koperasi
Usaha Bersatu and the Third Malaysian Plan. In addition, he fought against drug menace with the launching of
PEMADAM and he also fought against the communists by strengthening the armed forces as the national defense.

Being a careful, thorough and disciplined person, Tun Hussein had succeeded in playing a significant role in solving
problems that could harm the country’s safety. He would not tolerate with anything that might threaten the
peace, harmony and stability of the country or in other words he would not tolerate when the peace of the
country was jeopardized by the subversive elements. With a modest but firm reputation, Tun Hussein Onn was
renowned and looked upon as being very sincere in his struggle for racial unity in Malaysia. The title, 'Father of
Unity' given to him really matches the acronym of his first name, ‘HUSSEIN’, which covers all the elements of
unity to be achieved in the various communities in Malaysia. The acronym is as shown below:

H Harmony
U Unity
S Security
S Survival
E Efficiency
I Integrity
N National

Tun Hussein had left good deeds which have been the essence of the administration of the Prime Ministers after
him which stressed on the values of honesty, clean and integrity towards building an excellent future. On May 29,
1990 he passed away of a heart attack in Daly City, California, United States of America and his remains were
buried at the Heroes Mausoleum, in the compound of the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. Al-Fatihah.

Last Updated ( Selasa, 19 Januari 2010 )

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